PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron held phone calls on Monday with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to discuss ways of avoiding an escalation in the Middle East crisis, said France and Egypt.

The French presidency said Macron, in his call with Netanyahu, had reaffirmed Paris's desire to avoid an escalation in the Middle East and to stand up to what it said were Iran's efforts to destabilise the region.

The French presidency added that Macron had also reiterated to Netanyahu that France wanted an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and said Paris was working to ease tensions arising from clashes on the border between Israel and Lebanon.

In a separate statement, Egyptian presidential spokesperson Ahmed Fahmy said Macron had also discussed the Middle East crisis with the Egyptian leader and that both Macron and Sisi had agreed on the need to avoid further regional escalation. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Adam Makary in Cairo; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Gareth Jones)